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The things in ht fire

Well, not really, but they started s therass of the yard I poked at h ot out of the SUV and stood over the things I’d tossed, staring and thinking Then he picked the "You need to tell us so "We’ll hold ’em"

I blinked back tears They trusted erous "Don’t go to sleep," I said "You’ll wake up with the SUV on blocks, the wheels gone, the engine pilfered, and your pockets picked of the ave me a look that I interpreted as polite interest but was really only a slight twitch I ined "They could try But then, I never sleep Don’t get yourself hurt again Yell if you need us"

I nodded and went into the church, closing the door behind ht hand instantly started to ache, but I tried to pretend I was fine and called out, "Anyone here? Preacher? Pastor?" I couldn’t remember his name, and any scent was hidden beneath the reek of fresh paint Massaging h the dark foyer into the sanctuary The daylight in the long, narrow building was shuttered away, but the air-conditioning wasn’t up to the job of the heat wave The air in the old building was close and hu of New Orleans’ pervasivefrom the white, sun-heated walls The floor was new hardwood,as if they had been repurposed nu multilayers of paint at every scratch and nick The rostrum on the uncarpeted dais was ancient, a scarred, fancy cross carved on the front Celtic cross? No, the upright was longer than the ar blood-drunk from a witch spell thrown by a master vampire The back wall showed no place for a choir but did have a half wall directly behind the rostrum and a door to either side The s, indicating a baptis ar up the scents of children, sweat, old cigarette smoke, and aftershave beneath the paint Fro I heard a toilet flush and sain I heard one of the front doors behind h the old house turned church Soin the SUV in this heat Nosy human

"Yes?" From the door to the left of the rostru about twelve, no ly mustache he sported Yeah Sa closer "I’m Charley--" He ca His hand slowly fell "You used to attend our congregation"

I nodded

"You stopped co"

I nodded

"You’re Jane Yellowrock The vaain

"What can I do for you, sister?"

Ihand to my elbohere the ache seemed to increase "I don’t know Not exactly" I held outred lines and feltht my balance "I was hit by a witch spell One cast by a powerful va, you know, vampire blood and the sun and all that I don’t knohat to try next But I thought"--I gestured to the half wall behind the rostruht maybe holy water"

"We don’t believe in holy water, sister But I can pray for you"

"You don’t believe that the water recently used for baptished,so very drunk--"vampires are scared silly of it"

"Holy water is not the sa, sister?" he asked, earnest and kind--too kind--in his desire to help Made ra the towardShe’s one of the few things standing between this city and another bloodbath, and she needs help So, if you don’t e of the holy water in your baptis his pace, Eli picked led ers at the twelve-year-old human as Eli and I rounded the corner and the boy-preacher vanished fro I’m sorry a lot today," I said to myself Louder I added, "Sorry Eli’s so bossy"

"Love you too, babe," Eli said And he threw me into the water

I’d been baptized in a bend of a river when I was a teenager, the water in the swiht about that in ages But as I landed in the chlorinated water, eyes open and burning, seeing the blue tile and handrails beneath the water, the little rubber patches on the bottom of the pool toabove me, I remembered I remembered it all

I remembered the feel of the preacher’s muscled arm beneath my hands The wet chill of his hand onit off The sensation that jarred through me as he braced his feet on the rocky bottom and lowered me down The way the broater closed over h the water, rippling

The rush of water as he leveredThe intense smell of river water The feel of the river bottoe that I was supposed to be a new person, and reborn Again I reain As if I had been reborn before And I had been reborn, every ti reborn fro lish word hadn’t made a lot of sense to me at the time I hadn’t knohat it would mean for me, the rebel, the troublemaker at the children’s home, but I kneanted it Wanted to throw myself into that sensation of tranquility, that new life that the preacher and his Bible had promised I would find And as the chill water sluiced fro--